Pride On Display At Kraken Community Iceplex

Seattle Pride Classic 2023 Fills 3 Rinks

Kraken Community Iceplex was never more full of Pride than it was last weekend.

Specifically, 18 teams made up of 260 LGTBQIA2+ players, in a tournament organized by Seattle Pride Hockey Association.

16-year NHL veteran Andrew Ference represented the league in his current role as Director of Social Impact, Growth & Fan Development. "This is a little bit out of the ordinary, where I get eight hours in my skates just playing hockey and having a ton of fun."

Also among those playing, transgender pro Jessica Platt, a former member of the CWHL Toronto Furies. "I never would have imagined playing hockey as my true self. To see Team Trans out here this weekend, it's been incredible to see that come to fruition."

Luke Prokop, former Seattle T-Bird and the first openly gay player under NHL contract, may have set a record by playing for teams in 14 games. "There's folks here that this is their second or third time skating, but they felt comfortable in an environment they thought was inclusive. The organizers have done such a great job running it."

Ference, Platt and Prokop share Pride Month stories below.

"When I was younger, a good friend of mine dropped out of hockey. He was gay but didn't come out until he was in his mid-20's. He went through a terrible time where he was not able to be himself, and ended up on the streets and had a really terrible teenage-hood and early adulthood.

"Had he come out, even though he's a good friend, I wouldn't have known what to do or what to say or how to support him. Having kids of my own, it's important that a friend would be comfortable to confide in them, or to stay in the sport, or to stay in the friendship.

"Generational change doesn't just happen by magic. It happens because people are willing to expose issues and confront issues. We all have a part to play. As a parent, you could be insanely influential as your kids are growing up; what you're exposing them to, teaching them, talking about life. Things that I didn't have.

"There's more people engaging in conversations that hadn't been engaged in before. Not pushing things in the corner, or just trying to not rock the boat. I'd much rather go into a social situation or a work situation or sports situation where you're completely yourself. You can know that you're accepted for that.

"Everybody probably looks in the mirror at some point and thinks that we're different. So I think we can all kind of relate to that."

"I didn't plan on coming out publicly. But when I made the (CWHL Toronto Furies) full time, I had seen Harrison (Browne) come out in the NWHL the year before. I saw the reaction and the difference that he could make, and felt like that was something that I could do.

"I talked with the league and told them about my intentions to come out publicly. Then I talked to my coaches, with the backing of the league, and my coaches were nothing but supportive. It was amazing.

"My coaches had my back when I was going to tell my team. We had it all coordinated, because once I told the team and everyone, something might leak. I was going to post it publicly the same day.

"So I told the team, and I had nothing but support. I told them my piece and I left the room, gave them time to digest.

"They came out pretty much immediately and gave me hugs, and told me how proud they were. Pretty much immediately it was like, 'So, you going to come get ready for practice?' That was an incredible response from them.

"The post went out right after that. I had to turn my phone off for the night because it just lit up with retweets and likes and posts. I got mostly a positive response.

"There were some negative responses, mostly from people who didn't know anything about trans people or any intention to learn, and just wanted to spread hate. But I would do nothing different. It was one of the best decisions I could have made."

"I was drafted in October of 2020, and I didn't start coming out to family and friends until 2021. It was the COVID season. We only played about 21 games, and we stayed in a hotel for three months. We couldn't see family, we couldn't see friends, just our team.

"That was the hardest time for me. Rumors started. That definitely affects you when you're on the ice. You can't focus on the game anymore because you're so preoccupied with what everyone else is thinking.

"I didn't know what the reaction was going to be because no one had done it before. I had a feeling it would be positive with how Nashville and the NHL and the CHL took it.

"For me personally, not a whole lot changed. I just got to be myself more, and my game improved because of that. I was so grateful that everything was so positive. I never really had any backlash.

"I haven't had any players reach out to me. They might be nervous that I might say something, or they might follow me on Instagram and their friends would wonder why, things I was paranoid about when I was going through that process.

"I feel for those players that had to go their whole careers with hiding themselves because they were nervous of what might happen. And you wonder what their careers could have been like if they did come out. "

Editor's Note: We'll hear more from Ference, Platt and Prokop, later in this Pride Month.